Servee Wijsen - Nature Photography

This Buzzard had spotted me well before I'd seen it even though I was a 100 meters away. It gave me just enough time to snap this picture as it kept an eye on me before it took off...

As I checked the number on the ring (not seen in this picture) it turns out that White Stork NLA 2E302 was ringed 311 days ago today and and was 28 Kilometers away from the nest where it was born when I took this photo. I don't know if it left the country, and migrated south because some birds do stay here, but at least it survived it's first winter, which only very few birds do. Storks are typically ringed at about the age of 5 weeks when their legs don't grow any thicker, so this bird is just a couple of weeks away from it's first birthday...

Pretty bird this one. The Common Redstart, this one is a male, likes old varied forest areas with open spaces on sandy soil with plenty of trees with woodpecker holes to breed in...

Another shot of a male Bearded Reedling...

A male Bearded Reedling feeding on seeds of reed plumes. Quite a challenge to photograph in these strong windy conditions as they are swept from left to right and up and down all the time. They seem to have no problem keeping their focus on feeding though. It was an overcast day and the snow on the lake bounced back the light from the 'sky softbox'. That's why the bird is so beautifully lit from below :-)

A male Bearded Reedling can, as the name of this beautiful little bird suggests, be recognized by it's beard. In summer they feed on insects and are very hard to spot in the reed fields. In winter they switch their diet to seeds and can be found in sometimes very large groups feeding on the seeds in top of the reed plumes.

Great Spotted Woodpecker [Dendrocopus Major] dozing away in the sun. A very common species in our forests. It's brain is protected by shock absorbers so it won't get a headache from hacking it's nest in a tree. Still it prefers soft wood like that of a Birch tree.

Thousands of Dunlins [Calidris alpina] soaring over the sand plates @ the North Sea coast like one big organism. What a view! About 30% of all European Dunlins have their winter residence in The Netherlands.

Thousands of Dunlins [Calidris alpina] soaring over the sand plates @ the North Sea coast like one big organism. What a view! About 30% of all European Dunlins have their winter residence in The Netherlands.

A beautiful light-colored Buzzard [Buteo buteo] hunts mice in the field and does so by 'floating' on thermals in the rising hot air or by absence of such, from a lookout post in a tree or on a fence like in this photo...

Whooper Swans [Cygnus cygnus] migrate south in winter from their breeding grounds in Iceland, Scandinavia and RussIa. Birds from Iceland can be found in Great Brittain and Ireland, birds from scandinavia in Continental Europe, like this one in Germany. About the same size as the resident Mute Swans but much bigger than Bewick's Swans which by far outnumber them and look moor alike in terms of their black and orange beaks.

Adult European crane (Grus grus) flyby. As these cranes are very shy and turn away from you as soon as they see you, you have to position yourself in the right place out of sight and with patience and a little luck they fly by close enough to get a shot like this :-)

European Cranes [Grus grus] strolling in a harvested corn field...

European Cranes [Grus grus] flying trough the red colored sky at sunrise..

Juvenile Crane (below) with parent.

Around this time of year European Cranes migrate south from their Scandinavian breeding grounds. On their way they take a 'pitstop' in Germany to feed on the leftovers from the corn harvest. Right now there are about 42.000 birds to be found in Diepholzer Moor Niederung, Germany. An impressive sight to see them and hear their loud trumpeting sound.